Chapter 1: Oxygen Deprivation to the Brain

Many years later...

Early summer, one day, in the State of Yan, Chu Prefecture, the capital city of Jiangcheng.

Bai Yuxi yawned incessantly, tears brimming in his eyes as he stumbled off the bus, nearly missing a step and almost tumbling down due to his weak, unsteady legs. His pallid face and listless demeanor caused passersby to give him a wide berth, their faces twisted in distaste as they muttered among themselves, pointing at him behind his back.

With his delicate features, Bai Yuxi could only force a silent, bitter smile, knowing that once again, people had mistaken him for some kind of addict. Little did they know, he had never even smoked a cigarette in his life, let alone developed any unsavory habits—much less touched anything illegal or forbidden.

The reason for his pale complexion and lack of energy was something else entirely: a sleep disorder caused by cerebral hypoxia, which severely affected his body’s normal functioning. Ever since he was afflicted with this strange illness, Bai Yuxi had often collapsed suddenly while eating, walking, or even chatting, without any warning at all.

Strangely, no matter which hospital he visited, all the doctors could determine was that his brain’s oxygen consumption rate was several times higher than that of an average person—a bizarre symptom indeed! And whenever he concentrated intensely or tackled particularly challenging mental problems, his brain’s oxygen consumption would skyrocket to more than ten, even dozens of times the normal rate.

This meant that his brain required exponentially more blood and nutrients, which in turn placed a tremendous burden on his body. Under the effects of protein-energy malnutrition, he suffered from anemia and physical weakness, making his gaunt, pallid appearance all but inevitable.

This condition, after numerous consultations with medical experts, had been classified as a congenital genetic defect known as "Reactive Hyperoxic Gliopathy of the Cerebrum." While it imposed an unbearable physical toll, it also granted Bai Yuxi exceedingly high cerebral activity.

Although his frail health prevented him from fully utilizing the extraordinary memory and exceptional logical reasoning that came with such heightened brain activity, the abnormally high oxygen consumption still allowed his brain cells to remain active enough that, when awake, he could handle life’s tasks and academic matters with remarkable speed and efficiency.

This was why Bai Yuxi, despite suffering from a disease that seriously disrupted his daily life, did not succumb to despair and instead managed to gain admission to Jiangcheng University with commendable grades.

Aware of his condition, Bai Yuxi seldom ventured outdoors, living a life confined to the triangle of campus, cafeteria, and dormitory—a professional homebody resigned to his fate. But today, after a routine hospital check-up, he’d been delayed by rush hour traffic and returned later than usual.

With his “sleep point” approaching, Bai Yuxi forced himself to quicken his steps, swaying unsteadily as he made his way home. It was only after moving into the dorms that he discovered his hypoxic sleep disorder came with a side effect: sleepwalking. After one midnight incident that terrified his roommates out of their wits, he moved out to rent a small apartment near campus, sparing others from his nocturnal wanderings. The rent and living expenses were higher, but at least he wasn’t bothering anyone else.

His so-called “school district apartment” was in an aging complex where eight out of ten streetlights were dead, and the few remaining cast only a dim, feeble glow. Under this faint light, Bai Yuxi, utterly exhausted, was more drowsy than ever, his eyes barely able to stay open.

“Almost there… almost there…” he muttered, his legs soft as if treading on cotton. Gritting his teeth, he leaned against the wall, staggering forward like a drunkard.

He was nearly home and about to cross a dim alley when suddenly he felt as though he’d walked straight into a layer of soft “membrane.” Before he could react, his forward-leaning body lurched and passed right through it.

Startled, Bai Yuxi tried to pry open his heavy eyelids to see, but before he could, a slender figure came hurtling toward him and knocked him to the ground.

His scrawny frame collided hard with the cement, eliciting a muffled groan. The pain jolted him awake from his hypoxic stupor. The body that had slammed into him was surprisingly heavy, yet peculiarly soft—and in the impact, Bai Yuxi accidentally bit his lip, sending a spray of blood onto his assailant’s face.

“What’s going on?” he thought, clutching the bump rising on the back of his head. Dazed, he looked down and found himself staring into a pair of gem-like emerald eyes. Both he and the girl entangled with him on the ground froze in astonishment.

“What is this…” he wondered, stupefied by the golden-haired, blue-eyed beauty lying atop his chest. Not understanding what had just happened, Bai Yuxi instinctively guessed, “A foreign exchange student from the International College?”

“Hey!” the blonde girl snapped. “Damn it, Jason! When you cast a barrier, don’t you even check first? How could a regular person get dragged in?”

“How is that possible? Maya, surely you know—even a secondary barrier locks onto multidimensional energy-matter signatures!” a brown-haired foreign youth shouted back, locked in combat with a massive shadowy figure. “How could a normal person be drawn in—uh?”

Before he could finish, a thunderous crash sounded. The brown-haired youth was sent flying by the hulking shadow, revealing someone hidden behind him.

Bai Yuxi, whose gaze had just been drawn to the dazzling orange crystal pendant nestled in the deep cleavage of the blonde girl’s ample chest, was startled by the crash and the youth’s cry. Instinctively, he turned his head—and under the dim streetlight, he caught his first clear glimpse of the monstrous figure.

It stood nearly two meters tall, covered in reddish-brown fur, with orange-red skin, glaring yellow eyes, wolf-like pointed ears, a blue nose, and two sharp canine teeth jutting from its mouth. Its entire body rippled with muscle—a humanoid creature unlike anything he’d ever seen!